A decade ago, the idea of small business ecommerce seemed like an impossible dream. Only large companies and multinationals had the resources to utilize Internet servers, develop websites, and pay for web-hosting. This has changed drastically because of the way the IT industry has developed in the last few years.

Right now, there are various opportunities opening up for small business ecommerce. Any business can have a web presence and take advantage of its benefits to increase it customer base and revenue stream.

The main drivers behind the growing opportunities for small business ecommerce include cheaper software and website solutions. Not small businesses can take advantage of free products like Wordpress, or ecommerce specific products like Exponent. Several of these types of platforms offer many downloadable software tools that can help a small business execute online sales efficiently.

Cost-Efficient Ecommerce Opportunities

Other opportunities for small business ecommerce stem from the use of free web services to enhance customer connectivity and drive down costs. A small business owner can use electronic receipts and invoices to carry out business processes.

In addition, small businesses can have a fairly effective web presence by using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to promote goods and services, and to create brand loyalty among their target customers.

Thirdly, the cost of running web services is reducing with improving technology. Therefore, even if a small business requires its own website under its own domain name, the costs are now affordable. The increasing bandwidth and speeds have made available multimedia applications that enable anyone to freely upload videos, slideshows, audio files, and animated materials at little or no costs.

These benefits translate to number of advantages for small business owners. First of all there is the possibility of increasing the speed of processing orders through small business ecommerce by allowing customers to order via email. Additionally, this reduces the need for customers to visit the actual store.

Small businesses can also take advantage of sending out electronic invoices faster than they would be able to send paper based ones. Not to mention the web offers small businesses many options for advertising. It is now easier to develop online marketing and advertising campaigns through Pay Per Click and SEO.

Lastly, a small business web ecommerce solution offers the ability to collect payments electronically. By using payment methods such as PayPal, it is possible to collect money without waiting for paper based currencies. The beauty of it all is that these options are very affordable and although they are designed for the large retailers, local small business are beginning to take advantage.

Over the past few years the number of Internet shoppers has steadily increased, especially lately with smartphone-friendly shopping carts. Given the massive market of potential clients, even small business retailers are turning to ecommerce solutions to sell their goods.

Because ecommerce involves the selling goods online, without the need of a business having a physical location, this shift is becoming a big game changer. Small business ecommerce solutions are becoming more affordable, and now "ma n' pop" stores are adopting web ecommerce solutions to funnel both local and visitor sales.

The advantages of small business ecommerce can be very wealthy, depending on the nature of the store. Some local businesses have rare products that many non-local customers have limited access to. An online store front could easily take care of location barriers.

In addition, smartphone shopping cart compatibility could contribute to more sales. Mobile shoppers browse and comparison shop, even while on the downtown strip as they make their rounds from store to store. Local small businesses could incentive those shoppers with better prices, deals, and/or direct online purchasing.

The momentum for ecommerce, even at the local small business level, is great opportunity for many different companies. Below we offer some small business ecommerce tips to get you on your way.

Tailor Customer-Oriented Web Services

Most unsuccessful small business owners fail to truly understand their customers. As marketer or owner of a business, understanding the true nature of your target markets is key. Market awareness results in better sales solutions that will suit there styles and needs.

By understanding your market, you can better build your website to have an interface which they can relate to. Knowledge about the customers also enables more efficient online (and off-line) marketing tactics, such as search engine optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click. These strategies involve understanding the keyword phrases that customers may using when searching for your products online.

A Seamless & Secure Online Payment System

Small business owners planning to introduce ecommerce into their businesses must make sure their system is verified by major players in the online payment industry. This enables their customers have trust in them, as this displays signs of reliability.

Stemming from the latter tip about knowing about your customers, you must understand how your customers relate to your products. In turn, this allows you as the ecommerce marketer to create the appropriate checkout flow. For low-priced products, perhaps two-to-three pages consisting of data retrieval of customer's information and confirmation order page is all you need. For pricier items, more steps in the checkout process may be needed to instill that extra feeling of security.

Use Media To Help Sell Your Goods

Strong ecommerce stores provide a number of images of their products. Some of the most powerful e-retailers also include videos has product highlight. The use of rich media to help sell your goods is wise approach. This offers greater confidence in consumers, for they now what they are getting before they opt to buy.

Ask For & Show Customer Reviews

It is also important for customers who visit you website to be allowed to provide product reviews. By allowing the clients to do this, it gives you a chance to know which products are most popular and which ones are not. Also, most customers trust reviews from fellow customers, so good reviews can result in greater sales.

Thanks for visiting the web ecommerce solutions blog. If you have any questions or comments about small business ecommerce solutions, use the comments section below.

Small businesses are generally behind when it comes to content marketing. They don't adapt quickly enough, don't add the right content mediums, or simply don't know where to begin when it comes to choosing content marketing strategies.

Regardless of the reasons you haven't properly developed a content marketing plan, laying out a foundation and getting started is the only way to really adapt in this busy field. These tips will help you begin, and successfully develop a content marketing strategy.

1. Get started

Most small businesses overlook the basics of a calendar in planning for this marketing strategy. Having a calendar, with clearly marked dates, deadlines, goals, and different topics to complete by a date, will help you stay on track.

Like anything else, a schedule will help you stay on top of things, and avoid getting stuck in a vicious circle or ignoring priorities. So, to get started, simply get started with planning, setting up a calendar with concrete dates, and start on your marketing plan.

2. View prior content

Sure, you want to see what competitors do and what successful businesses do when it comes to content marketing. But, why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to? Look at old marketing tactics. Sure, some might be dated, and no longer work.

But, if you do your research, you will find certain things that have worked for years, so why wouldn't they work for you? Learn what has worked in the past, what tactics companies have used for years, and develop your content plan and strategies around this, as it gives you a basic, solid foundation to begin your own marketing plan.

3. What's trending?

Newjacking, or using content around what is currently popular, is simply smart practice. Since it is popular, since people are talking about it, and know what it is, why not develop a content marketing plan around it?

Doing this gives you a basis to begin your marketing, and also gives you solid ground, as it is popular in current news media. So, staying on top of the trends, and knowing what is hot in social media world, will help you in the marketing plan you are developing.

4. What does your consumer want?

Surveys are very telling; for this reason you should use them. Ask consumers what they want to see, learn what they like and dislike, and work around this. Understanding their stance on different areas revolving around your business allows you to develop a marketing plan they are going to enjoy.

You can create graphics, infographics, graphs, and other relevant data to see what works and what doesn't. Giving the people what they want will help benefit your business and enable it to thrive and grow.

5. Visualize

SEO focuses on the written for the most part; but, 90% of what we gather, and information we see daily, is visual. So, yes, you do want to consider SEO and words and content is extremely important. But, remember, people are far more likely to remember something they see, than a small passage they read. So, keep up with visual content and informative visual ideas, when developing a content marketing plan for your business.

6. Use video

Video blogs are a great addition to your marketing plan. People watch online video; it is more entertaining than reading a passage and can give more in depth information as well. A majority of people who go online watch videos, so why not use this in your content marketing plan as well?

Creating useful, fun, and entertaining content, will give your visitors something to see and enjoy, all while delivering valuable content about your business and industry to them.

7. Reuse recycled content

Maybe you don't have time to create new content; in some instances you don't have to. If you have used previous content which people responded to in the past, recreate it. Make it new, up to date, and give them something they haven't seen before.

Sometimes what you delivered in the past is still what they want to see; simply give them a new visual and new way to view old information in a new light.

When it comes to content marketing, planning is key. In short, you can't afford not to use content marketing. These simple tips will help you develop a viable plan for your small business strategy to market to your consumer.

When running a small business, it can be difficult competing with large corporations with consumers worldwide. To combat this, small businesses everywhere have started creating their own websites. But how do businesses choose which web design platforms are right for them?

In this article we've compiled a list of five web design platforms for small businesses to help make the decision easier.

Wordpress

First on the list of five web design platforms for small businesses is Wordpress. Wordpress is perhaps the most popular web design platform used today. Its easy to use interface requires no coding or HTML background. Wordpress is a great choice for beginners because it is so user-friendly.

Wordpress also offers a great menu management system to make websites easier to navigate. In addition to this, Wordpress also has thousands of graphics templates to choose from to make your website stand out to consumers. Wordpress is a very popular choice of web design platforms for small businesses.

Exponent CMS

Next on our list of web design platforms for small businesses is Exponent CMS. The most prominent feature about this open source program is that it requires no coding knowledge to use. Everything about this platform has been simplified to make building a professional website as easy as possible. Exponent CMS was designed by a specialized firm that offers SEO, web marketing and design in Peoria, so it's highly SEO-friendly for businesses interested in optimizing their website.

Exponent CMS offers not only selection of templates, but also a selection of specialized templates. This means that they can be used for different pages like ecommerce or blogs. Because the Exponent CMS system handles the structure of the website, installation is easy and hassle-free. Exponent CMS is one of the most user-friendly choices for web design platforms for small businesses.

Squarespace

Next on the list is Squarespace. Squarespace takes its pride in its visual appeal. The designs of the templates to choose from are very modern and state-of-the-art. However, this does not mean that the interface is difficult to use.

On the contrary, Squarespace is one of the most user-friendly platforms on the web. Plugins and widgets allow your website to become more interactive. Squarespace also offers an ecommerce space with the option to integrate a shopping cart. Squarespace is a great option for those looking for a more modern website.

Weebly

Weebly is the next web design platform on the list. Its simple interface is easy to comprehend and will have your website up and running in no time. Weebly offers a variety of simple templates that can be integrated into a mobile-friendly website.

In addition to this, widgets and plugins can be added to a Weebly website including photo galleries and polls. Weebly also offers another way to make money by supporting Google AdSense, a popular choice of ads for small businesses. Weebly is another good choice of web design platforms for small businesses.

Wix

The final web design platform on the list is Wix. Wix is one of the easiest platforms to understand when it comes to editing. Not only is the interface easy to understand, but there are also tutorial videos and a FAQ section should you get stuck on something.

Wix offers only the most professional templates for its websites. It also supports multilingual websites, which is a plus for businesses with consumers around the world. Like the previous platforms, basic widgets and plugins can be added to websites. Wix is ultimately the best choice for businesses with international customers.

Due to the world of web design platforms, small businesses can now compete with large scale corporations. Using these five web design platforms for small businesses, you can now choose which one is right for you and your small business.